Dig in.

I made this delicious stack of pancakes last night for dinner. It was just one of those nights where I was like, I'm gonna have breakfast for dinner... just 'cause I can. I put a Fall spin on it and added some cinnamon and nutmeg along with the Sweet Potato to make it a little more festive.
Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Spice Pancakes
   Makes one large serving
1 cup Bisquick or other pancake mix
2/3 cup water
1 Sweet Potato
Equal pinches of nutmeg & cinnamon
   (I know.. real accurate measurements!)

Mix together pancake mix, water and spices. Cook potato and cut into cubes. Add into mix with other ingredients, I put mine into my Ninja processor to make the mixing a little easier! Viola, you have a delicious pancake mix, pour them in the pan and indulge!

Hope your week was amazing!
Alex

I Knead More Foccacia

Looking for a new recipe and something to cook the other day, I went on my grandma's Pintrest to see what I could cook for her. I found this recipe, and decided to give it a shot. I've only made bread/dough a few times before- and I'm always up for a cooking challenge!

It is a pretty time consuming recipe, but oh-so-rewarding to say you made the dough and foccacia from scratch! This is a great appetizer, or meal- I nearly ate the whole thing myself for lunch once I finished it!

Here's what you need for this awesome Carmelized Onion, Olive and Rosemary Foccacia:
(Recipe from In Pursuit of More, via Pintrest)

The Dough:

• (2 tsp) active dry yeast
• (2 cups) warm water
• (3 tsp) sugar
• (3) tsp salt
• (4) cups flour all-purpose
• (4 tbsp) olive oil

The Toppings:

• (1) medium yellow onion or(1/2) a large sweet onion, sliced lengthwise thinly
• (1 tsp) salt
• (1 tsp) sugar
• (1 cup) of large black olives (I used Kalamata)
• (2-3) sprigs fresh rosemary - (Luckily my grandma has a bush in her front yard-score!)
• plenty of olive oil (1/4-1/2 cup)

 Add some sugar to add a little extra Mmmm!

After making the dough, you have to let it rise for an hour or so. During this time, have a glass of iced tea, turn on some good music, and dance around the kitchen for a little bit- then continue onto the toppings. (*dancing optional to the success of this recipe) I then carmelized the onions with a little olive oil, which actually takes like 25-30 minutes. I didn't realize this, so give yourself time between getting your groove on and waiting for the dough to rise. Then cut the olives and the rosemary so you have them ready to sprinkle atop your delicious homemade bread! 

Let the dough rise, covered, in a warm place, until it looks like this!

After the dough has risen, punch out the air, cut it in half and save the other half for another treat later! You can roll out the dough in any shape you please, they did a traditional rectangle, I made a circular shape... whatever you please! Then add the onions, olives and rosemary on top and liberally shake some olive oil on top- this adds the moisture so don't be shy with it! 

Bake at 400 for around 20-25 minutes until its nice and golden! Next, cut and enjoy with the ones you love- or enjoy with yourself, all at one time, or save for lunch the next day! You're sure to impress everyone when you say you made it from scratch, so bring part to work and wait for the oooo's and ahhhh's come your way! I dipped it in some balsamic vinegar and it made it that much better, because I am slightly obsessed with balsamic!

If you are new to bread making and working with dough and yeast, please check out the original post here and the directions are super detailed and really helpful! 

Hope you try it and impress yourself, you Iron Chef, you!

Alex

Yummy, walnut banana bread!

Even when it's unbearably hot outside, there's not much better than a warm treat and some cold milk or iced coffee. So when the group of bananas turned far too brown to eat continued to sit on the counter, I took it as a signal I needed to bake some Banana bread!
Here's the recipe I used, taken right out of my grandma's recipe box!


1/2 cube of butter
1/2 cube or 1 T of margarine
1 C sugar
2 eggs well beaten
4 T buttermilk (I just used regular milk!)
3-4 verrryyyy ripe bananas
2 C flour
1/2 t salt
1 t baking powder
1 t soda
1 t vanilla
1/4 C nuts (I added more, the more nuts the merrier!)



Cream butters and sugar, add eggs and mix thoroughly. Add alternately bananas and dry ingredients . Finally add vanilla and nuts! I put this into two separate loaf pans and made two, or you could make one large one- it's up to you! I brought one to work so I couldn't eat the whole thing myself- because I definitely would have! I sprinkled some nuts on top, and would suggest a little cinnamon for something a little extra.

Let me know if you try this! And sit back and indulge in some delicious banana bread!
Happy Monday!
Alex

Tofu Cheesecake, say what?

I know I have been lacking in the posting lately, but just stay with me! I have a crazy month ahead with lots of interviews, elections and applications headed my way! I will keep you posted as my (hopefully) new positions come. So I will save that for another post.

Here is what I made last week that I have been dying to make for quite some time. Tofu Cheesecake! Yes, I know.. about 90% of people see this and are automatically turned off, but give it a chance! I made mine crust less because I didn't have any graham crackers lying around. Here is the recipe I used. I did cut this in half because the limited amount of cream cheese I had, and, well, because I would be the only one eating this and I was trying to not tempt myself too badly.






Filling:
1½ pounds silken tofu
12 ounces soy cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix all of these ingredients in a mixing bowl until most of the lumps are out, making sure to lick the spoon because I found the batter delicious! :] Then you can pour the batter mixture into a round pan and cook for about 15 minutes. This is very flexible; the recipe said 20-25, but the top of mine was already brown by 15 minutes. Granted it may not be the prettiest thing, and the top was a little crispy, but I really enjoyed the outcome! I feel healthier eating this over regular cheesecake, even though it stills requires hefty amounts of cream cheese and sugar and probably isn't, but oh well! This is a great dessert when you want to try something different and use the spare tofu that's been sitting in your fridge.

I now have my new baby, my Canon G12!! Ahhh, I cannot tell you how excited I am to start taking some great shots with this beauty! I am getting my case in the next week and will be hopefully taking it everywhere and taking some amazing pictures. I cannot wait! Stay tuned!

I'll be in a Stand Up Paddle board race on Saturday at Tempe Town Lake with some of the girls from my work, come check us out! Have a grrrreat weekend!
Alex

Chow Down

So I've had the ingredients to make puppy chow since my Penn State friends were around. I was planning on making it with them because it had kind of become an inside joke, which basically dealt with trying to make it in a dorm with a tiny microwave, and eating it stale months later. Anyways, we didn't get around to it so I decided I'd whip it up last night. If you've never had puppy chow, you're missing out! It's pretty simple to make, is very delicious, and makes large portions so it's easy to share/ bring to a gathering! Now, after saying that it is pretty easy, I'm going to say that I kind of messed it up. I think I didn't put enough butter in it/didn't let it melt long enough to the chocolate was a little chunky. Nonetheless, it is simply delicious and I cannot stop eating it! Here is the recipe so you can try it yourself and maybe make it better than I did!




Ingredients
9 cups Chex cereal
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Measure cereal and set aside
2. Melt together the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter in the microwave. Stir, then microwave about 30 seconds longer, or until it can be stirred smoothly. 3. Add vanilla, then pour over Chex cereal. Mix together so that the cereal is coated in the chocolate mixture.
4. Put in a large resealable storage bag, add powdered sugar and shake (the fun part!) until the cereal is coated

I cut this recipe in half, because I didn't need quite that much for just me, but feel free to adjust it however you'd like! You can portion the finished product into smaller resealable bags and bring them to class or work with you for a little yummy snack! Or leave them in a bowl on the counter so you can snack on them as you please, which is what I've been doing... warning, they disappear faster this way!

Well I should get back to reading and homework now, just thought I'd share a quick, fun recipe! Hope everyone had a great weekend and a good Monday!
Alex

Salad Sunday

I hope everyone had a holly jolly Christmas! I definitely did. Anytime I get to spend a whole day with my family is always fun. I'll be putting up a post of some of my awesome presents soon... once I transport them back to my apartment! I can't believe Christmas has already come and gone. I guess I still have New Years to celebrate! My best friends from Penn State are coming in Wednesday night to spend a week in the warm Arizona weather with me, I can't wait!


Well, so this isn't a holiday recipe... but I thought I'd show you one of the things I like to whip up when I'm hungry and don't feel like putting too much effort into dinner. It's just a simple salad, and it's really versatile. I pretty much throw whatever I have on hand in it! I start off by chopping up some romaine lettuce, then cut up some carrots and some sliced cheese. I had a hard boiled egg from when I last made egg salad, so I decided to cut that up for my salad, too. Then I added some raisins and crunched up some pecans to throw in. Toss it into a bowl and add the dressing of your choice (mine is this delicious one from Sprouts), and wallah... a very simple, scrumptious salad!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and a Merry Christmas!
Alex

Breakfast for Dinner!

Ah, one more final down... one more to go! Then I am finished with school for 2010! Woohoo! Not wanting to be very creative and make up a meal to cook, I decided to go with the always delicious pancakes for dinner. You really can't go wrong with pancakes, and plus I have left overs I can make for breakfast tomorrow, score! Well I have been going crazy with all the studying and work. I feel like I never get a break, and I am so excited for winter break. I'll still have to work, but at least when I get home I can just relax and not worry about homework or studying! It's going to be beautiful! Here's some photos of the pancake making process, go Bisquick!


Off to enjoy some Mexican food in honor of finishing my Spanish final! Have a good night! My holiday party photos should be up soon!
Alex

Lazy Sunday

A long work day turned into a perfectly lazy day. I got off early from work because of the rainy weather and the IronMan triathlon that made renting boats kind of impossible. So I took the long way on my bike enjoying the overcast day and beautiful Tempe scenery. What could have been a productive homework day turned into me lounging in my PJ's and doing what I feel like I haven't done in a while... nothing. Cloudy days always make me want to snuggle up and just unwind, and I got to do exactly that. Definitely just what I needed. I made these monstrous pancakes a couple days ago and they were absolutely scrumptious. I might just make breakfast for dinner tonight, but I'm out of milk. Bummer. I could really eat pancakes anytime, who couldn't? Haha. Well have a great night and I hope you have some time to unwind today... or soon!
xoxo,
Alex.

Bewildered Time Traveler

I just went on about a three mile run to clear my head. I was driving myself crazy with thoughts and just needed to move, and get out in the fresh air. Especially right now, the weather in Arizona is absolutely perfect. So I turned on some John Mayer and hit the pavement and just moved and breathed. I'm feeling a little better. I get to go to New Mexico for the Green Chile Fest Ultimate Frisbee competition. Super excited! I didn't know if I was going to be able to go because I just got a new job (Tempe Boat Rentals on Tempe Town Lake!) and was iffy about asking it off. Turns out my boss plays ultimate to, very nice coincidence. Anyways, that's why have been so absent on this blog, school and work all piled up, especially with midterms. So now I can breathe and write a little. Well, this is how I feel right now.
Can't believe it's November, but I'm loving the weather!



Here's a pumpkin cake that me and my twin sister made for Halloween. We're bound to be on the Food Network someday. Well I hope you all take a second to breathe and enjoy the beautiful fall weather, and remember that everything happens for a reason and it'll all work out how it's supposed to. Okay, so maybe that advice is mostly for me... but feel free to take it!